Christmas 2008 Memories

This was definately a different Christmas but still memories were made. I have to start clear back with Thanksgiving at Avry's in Syracuse, Utah. Avry and Jason have had this fun thing with Candy canes for several years. Two years ago Jason gave her a box of 368 green striped candy canes. Avry decided to give them back and with my help we decided to go all out and decorate his house with Candy Canes. I had been buying and finding anything with candy cane on them, from ribbon, to material, placemats, ornaments, window clings, magnet, rug, you name it. We were hoping we could get Jason to go on a trip or go somewhere for the day. Well that didn't happen so after thanksgiving we went to his house with him there and decorated it for him. I had red and white lights (which he said it looked like a Barbie tree from the street) and set to work. We hide all 368 candy canes in his house. I am sure he has found 95% of them.


Jason's tree


We celebrated our 39th wedding Anniversary on the 19th by going to Mountain River Ranch for a sleigh ride, dinner and entertainment. (It was really our office Party) Christmas Eve found us doing nothing, so we opened our gifts to each other. The funny thing is we both had bought each other a new paper shredder. We had bought the exact same thing. Scott bought his at Staples an I bought mine at Office Max. Of course we took one back. Scott did get me a new digetal video recorder. He had copied all our old 8 mm tapes on to CD and said he didn't realize that I had take most of the video's.

Christmas morning we puttered around packing things to go to Island Park where we had rented a cabin for 3 nights. Geoff and Jason got here around 11 am. Geoff had been in Germany for the last two weeks visiting Clint and family. Tiffany and Marshall got here about 3. Marshall had to go back to Utah to work. Tiffany and boys rode with us in the Yukon and Geoff and Jason took the pickup filled with food, clothes, gear, and all our presents. We headed to Island Park in a blizzard. Tried to get gas in two places and they were empty. Found gas in Ashton. We drove very slow and got up to Island Park at about 7 pm. Blowing, snowing and dark we attempted to try and find the cabin.

It was only 1/4 mile from the main highway. We left the pickup at the Subway and drove up Huckleberry Lane. We stopped at one cabin to ask where it was at and they said it was right next door. The drive hadn't been plowed out. Jason and I waded in waist deep snow to the porch. Scott drove up the lane to an intersection and was able to turn around and go back down to the Subway where he unhitched the trailer and unloaded the snowmachines and then we unloaded everything in the pickup into the Yukon. (Pickup has only rear wheel drive). We proceeded to get all 4 machines stuck because of the 3 feet of soft snow. I was busy still in my sweats shoveling a path from the cabin to the road. Jason, Geoff and Scott worked at getting the machines unstuck and making a path to the cabin. I was getting cold so I went in and watched the boys while Tiffany went out to help. By 10:30 pm they had everything hauled in and shoveled a place for the yukon. Avry was coming from Logan and they had a white out and turned back and stayed with Justin's family that night. Marshall even made it all the way to Lehi in the snow storm. It only took him 6 hours.



Friday morning it was a beautiful sunny day. A guy came and plowed us out and said he didn't know anyone was coming till Sunday. The cabin belongs to some people we know and I had reserved it through them and not their central reservations center. Avry and family got up Friday late afternoon. Marshall got their late evening. Tiffany, Geoff, Jason, & Scott went for a ride. Said they would be gone a few hours. Well four hours later I started panicking as the snow is so soft and if they got off the trail they would get stuck (we have old machines) no one took their phones. About 6 Tiffany shows up, cold and miserable. They had wound up in West Yellowstone and then dad had run out of gas. Excitement for the night. We had dinner and then opened gifts.


Snowmachine


Snow Cave

Hot tubbing

sledding. Jason and I did some cross country skiing also.

Snow Ball Fights

Games, Visiting and watching home movies

And Plenty of FOOD!

Sunday morning we headed home in a freezing rain. Had to stop twice to clean the windshield off. Said good bye to everyone except Tiffany and boys. We truly missed Clint and Jeralee's family.

Monday morning Tiffany and I were on the road at 7:30 am picked up Maeli and Kaden in Syracuse and got into Lehi at 12:30. We spent all day moveing the Snedakers to their new townhome in Eagle Mountain (10 miles away). Avry and family helped, Marshall's cusins helped and Jason and Mark came up in the evening to help. I stayed with Jason Monday night and Avry dropped off Maeli and Kaden in the morning to spend the day with me. We went to Body Worlds 3. That was a fascinating exhibit on the human body. Had lunch at California Pizza Kitchen with Jason and then went to the movies and saw "Bed Time Stories". Met Avry at the car wash in Layton and then headed home to Idaho.